Columnist Nick Christensen: Schedule loads us up with quality matchups

Nick Christensen

Friday, Aug. 26, 2005 | 11:27 a.m.

Nick Christensen covers high school athletics for the Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at nick.christensen@lasvegassun.com.

Team (2004 Record, Last 2004 Ranking)

1. Shadow Ridge (6-4, n/r) 2. McQueen (11-2, 1) 3. Silverado (8-3, n/r) 4. Bishop Gorman (8-3, 9) 5. Hug (9-3, 6) 6. Spanish Springs (7-3, 10) 7. Eldorado (7-4, 7) 8. Douglas (9-4, n/r) 9. Palo Verde (14-0, 2) 10. Las Vegas (12-3, n/r)

Ranked by the Las Vegas Sun and Sparks Tribune

We've said it before, and we'll say it again -- kudos to the scheduling gnomes, wherever they're hiding, for putting together this year's games.

The schedule, in fact, is too good. Nobody should be forced to choose between going to Vegas at Shadow Ridge and Palo Verde at Gorman on the same night. We never thought we'd pass up a Palo Verde-Foothill matchup, but we never thought Gorman would be playing at Vegas at the same time.

Eldorado came as close as anybody to knocking off Palo Verde last year, and the Sundevils will try to finish the task on Sept. 9 in Summerlin. But our preseason pick as the state's best team, Shadow Ridge, hosts J.K. Mullen, the defending 5A champions from Colorado that night.

Tonight is a tough call, too. Eldorado is a team in transition after the abrupt resignation of Frank DeSantis last weekend. Foothill is intriguing, and that game last year ended with a thrilling, last-second field goal by the Falcons.

But we're also intrigued by the game at Alexander, as Silverado travels to Cheyenne. The Desert Shield, like last year, starts this year as a mystery team. Silverado stayed under the radar last season, in large part because the Southeast league play was overshadowed by a great race for first in the Northeast Division. Both start the year with high praise and expectations from other coaches and observers.

So if you see an ink-stained wretch swerving between the 95 North and South ramps in the Spaghetti Bowl around 6 tonight, it's the sign of a man grappling with the last-minute pressure of going to a first-week game. And it won't get any easier from here.

Overall, a decent batch of first-weekers, all of which start at 7 p.m. Fire up the band and turn on the metal detectors -- high school football kicks off 2005 tonight.

CORONADO AT PALO VERDE

The Panthers return home as state champions, but have a lot of new faces. Coronado goes out on the road as ... well, they're Coronado.

THE CALL: Palo Verde 36, Coronado 17

LIBERTY AT CENTENNIAL

Both teams really need to start out this year on the right foot. We think the Bulldogs play for today, while the Patriots continue to look toward tomorrow.

THE CALL: Centennial 23, Liberty 20.

MOJAVE AT CHAPARRAL

Experience is the key here, and Mojave has the experience of surviving through Northwest Division play. It'll be a good learning curve for the Cowboys.

THE CALL: Mojave 32, Chaparral 27.

BASIC AT CIMARRON-MEMORIAL

Both teams start the year with a lot of questions. Again, we give the edge to the Northwest team.

THE CALL: Cimarron 42, Basic 24.

ARBOR VIEW AT THE MEADOWS

Here's a 2A team that couldn't make it out of the fourth quarter last year against a 3A team, and a 4A team that didn't exist last year. Many questions, only one answer -- defer to the team that's played a game.

THE CALL: The Meadows 18, Arbor View 6.

LAS VEGAS AT PINE VIEW

We don't know what to do with the Wildcats. We're on a four-game losing streak in picking 'Cats games dating back to last season, when we picked them to win the state championship after picking them to lose their prior three games.

Chris Faircloth will hope the trend continues as Vegas heads to St. George.

THE CALL: Pine View 46, Las Vegas 25.

DURANGO AT DEL SOL

Both teams have high hopes, but there was a lot of preseason hype around the Dragons this summer. We'll see how they do against a real 4A team.

THE CALL: Del Sol 31, Durango 24.

RANCHO AT CLARK

Do we really have to pick this one again?

THE CALL: Rancho 21, Clark 18.

FOOTHILL AT ELDORADO

The crystal ball didn't just get cloudy when Frank DeSantis resigned last weekend, it fell off the table, rolled down the stairs, out the building and onto the beltway. We're just going to pretend that whole coach resigning thing didn't happen and pick as we would have anyway.

THE CALL: Eldorado 26, Foothill 21.

DESERT PINES AT SHADOW RIDGE

Not a great matchup on either end, but it'll be interesting to see how Eric Jordan fits into this new offense.

THE CALL: Shadow Ridge 43, Desert Pines 10.

GREEN VALLEY AT SIERRA VISTA

The way we see it, the Gators have one of their best teams of this decade. Sierra Vista, meanwhile, has entered The Rebuilding Mode (cue Twilight Zone music).

THE CALL: Green Valley 22, Sierra Vista 13.

SILVERADO AT CHEYENNE

A tough call, because we still don't know much about either squad. But that Silverado defense made us feel very, very short. So we defer to them.

THE CALL: Silverado 21, Cheyenne 17.

SPRING VALLEY AT CANYON SPRINGS

Both teams should have better sophomore seasons, but the Pioneers figure to be playoff contenders. The Grizzlies are still laying a foundation.

THE CALL: Canyon Springs 41, Spring Valley 12.

OFF THE UPRIGHTS: Virgin Valley at Dixie (St. George), Faith Lutheran at Mineral County, Moapa Valley at Carson, Boulder City at Sparks.

OUT OF BOUNDS: Reed at Douglas, Churchill County at Hug, Elko at Spring Creek, Wooster at Spanish Springs.